This article examines the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) on three Asian countries - Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. The article considers the origins and effect of the GFC on these countries macroeconomies and also examines its impact on human resource management and employment relations institutions and actors. We explore the responses to the crisis from government and policy makers, the human resource management function and organised labour and attempt to explain why these three countries weathered the crisis so remarkably well. The article argues that tripartite human resource management efforts contributed to the resilience experienced in all three countries.